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FOUR-FOOTED 
WILDERNESS PEOPLE 

WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE COLOR-PLATES AFTER PAINTINGS IN WATER-COLOR 
TOGETHER WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN BLACK-AND-WHITE 

By EDWIN WILLARD DEMING 

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AND WITH STORIEgy^ 

By THERESE O: DEMING 



NEW YORK 

COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



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GRIZZLY BEAR 


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N deep, dark canyons, where the rugged and frowning rocks shelter him and the great 
old trees forbid civilization to enter, lives old Ephraim, the savage, but ever mterest- 
ing, grizzly bear. He was at one time master of the entire region west of the Missis- 
sippi; but he has gradually been exterminated, or driven back into the mysterious 
and picturesque fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains. 

This great grizzly bear fears nothing, and few dare attack him in his canyon home, 
where he is king. He travels about, with his slow, swinging gait, looking for his prey, 
always carrying his weapons with him ; and they are ever ready to assume the offensive, 
for, armed with his sharp, strong claws, old Ephraim fears nothing. When night overtakes 
him, he does not have to beg a shelter; for all the caves, the roots of fallen trees, and the 
ledges of rock are friendly. They afford him hiding-places from whence to spring upon his 
prey. He kills the animals he surprises, by striking them with his huge paws and then tear¬ 
ing them with his powerful jaws and claws. These weapons he wields, also, with terrible 
results, upon the unwary hunter who may carry war against him in his own domain. 

Th ese same caves, and roots of fallen trees, and ledges of rock protect the grizzly bear 
from the passing storm. But old Ephraim is not afraid; he ventures out to feed upon the 
birds and animals that cannot withstand the force of the storm. 

Though he shows partiality for the boulder-covered canyons, where rocks on either side 
rise, like huge monuments, to shelter and protect nature from greedy man, he issues forth 





GRIZZLY BEAR 


to feed upon herbs, berries, and fruits that grow on the mountain-side and to quench his 
thirst with the waters of the mountain streams. 

When summer is dying and autumn awakens in her gorgeous garments of bright hues, 
when the birds seek a warmer climate and the mosses and lichens that cover the great 
boulders and tree-trunks sleep, when the north wind rushes and roars through the canyons, 
frightening animal life away, then the grizzly leaves his rocky home, and the mother bear 

wanders about with her cubs. While the little 
fellows roll, toss, and play amid the vari¬ 
colored and beautiful growths on the sunny 
mountain-side, the mother turns over stones 
and digs great holes, to see if a gopher or a 
marmot be hidden away there. 

At last Dame Nature puts in a more 
somber line and falls asleep. Then the griz¬ 
zly returns to his canyon home for his win¬ 
ter’s sleep. After the mother bear has made 
her cubs snug in a sheltered cave, she crawls 
into another cave near by, and soon all are 
hushed to sleep by the great deep voice of 
North Wind, who alone is able to soothe the ferocious spirit of this strong wild 
creature. 

The grizzly lies dormant from dawn to darkness and then to dawn again, of the many 
short days and long nights, through storm and sunshine. If his winter’s sleep be not 



MARMOT 


GRIZZLY BEAR 


disturbed, he issues forth in good condition, but soon grows thin and scrawny in his 
search for food. Should the long sleep be broken or disturbed, the bear grows thin and 
emaciated before spring comes to awaken Mother Nature. 


BLACK BEAR 


J p l WELL-SHAPED, smooth-coated, timid fellow is the old black bear that, at one 
time, inhabited nearly all of North America. He is the commonest and best known 
Infc of all the bear family. He lives in regions where he can find plenty of thick tim- 

ly|gi ber to hide him from man—Put not to hide man from him, for he is most curious, 
JffiBrm and when he can get a chance to watch man without being noticed, he is careful to 

m HI M advantage of it. 

It probably is his terrible fear of man that has saved him from extermination. 
He seems to have little or no fear, though, of little people. Perhaps they remind him of 
playful cubs. 

When the twins, to whom this book is dedicated, were four years old, they went on an 
expedition to Montana. They traveled over a blazed trail, with saddle, pack-horses, and 
a wagon, way back into the mountains of Montana, where they were going to camp at the 
base of old Chief, a wonderful pile of huge rocks that stands as a landmark and can be seen 
for many miles. At one place, where we were trying to make a very steep climb, the horses 
stopped, refusing to go any farther. The two little boys, who already had climbed to the 
top, were put in a little clearing, in the pine woods, and told to stay there quietly until the 
horses came to the top of the hill. They were told that the horses would rush up and they 
must stay in their safe place. Then they were left to each other’s company. 

In about half an hour all was ready to start the horses and I went to the top to see if the 




BLACK BEAR 





























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BLACK BEAR 


four-year-olds were all right. When I reached the clearing, one of the twins said, “ Mother, 
see that bear! Me has just gone into the woods.” I did not pay any attention, but went 
back down the hill, warning the pair that the horses were now coming. 

When I reached the bottom and reported, “All is well,” the horses started; and I won¬ 
dered if, perhaps, there had been a bear watching the little fellows. But there was work to 
be done, and when we finally reached the top, I said, “Well, boys, where is the bear?” 
They answered, “I guess the noise of the horses frightened him away; he’s gone now.” 

It must have been true, for just then the father, who is an old-time hunter, came over to 
them and called my attention to some fresh tracks. “A bear must have just passed through 
here,” he said. “Yes, Daddy,” the boys answered, “he has been looking at us a long time, 
but he is gone now.” 

The black bear lives principally upon vegetable food; blueberries are a favorite diet, 
though he will eat any kind of fruit. When he can find plenty of Iruit, grubs, worms, 
grasshoppers, and crickets, together with good roots, he will pass over a freshly killed deer 
or sheep without noticing it; but when this favorite food is scarce the sheep-herders have 
trouble, for Bruin will help himself to as many members of the flock as he cares to kill. 

When fall comes, he loves to visit cornfields at night, eating the juicy cornstalks and ears, 
almost ruining the patch; and then, though he is very timid, he cannot resist visiting the 
pig-pen and helping himself to a pig. 

Bear cubs are very playful little fellows, full of all sorts of mischief, teasing the old mother 
until she gets very angry; then she will box the little fellows’ ears, to teach them respect 
for their elders—even the little animal people must be taught obedience and respect. 

When the old mother meets an enemy, or is surprised, she will drive her cubs up a tree 


BLACK BEAR 


and watch. At this time she is savage and will make a desperate fight to protect her young. 

She teaches her cubs to catch mice and to dig ants and grubs out of rotten logs.. 

Sometimes a cub is caught by Indians and taken home as a playfellow for some little Red 
baby, where he soon forgets his forest home and loves his adopted one. 

The black bear is passionately fond of honey and will dig 
up any nest of wild honey to get the sweets, regardless of 
the punishment he will surely receive. He is as clever as 
a human in locating a bee tree. He climbs to the opening 
and attacks it so savagely with his teeth and claws that he 
soon has a hole large enough to reach the honey. The 
angry bees sting his nose, mouth, and, in fact, his whole 
body; but he stops only long enough to brush some of them 
off, or, if the hole is near the ground, he rolls over and over, 
trying to get rid of his tormentors. But he keeps right at his 
task, knowing that before long the comb will be broken and 
the bees will leave him in peace while they hasten to gather 
enough of their honey to store away for their winter’s use. 

With the approach of winter, the mother bear takes her 
cubs into the woods, where they feed upon nuts and acorns. 
But soon these are gone, and winter’s bleak, cold winds send the whole bear family to seek 
sheltered caves. Then they and all Dame Nature are wrapped in a winter mantle and 
many of the wood folk have gone to sleep, to wait for the cheery springtime to come and 
awaken them. 



BLACK BHAR 


1 






POLAR BEAR 























POLAR BEAR AND ARCTIC FOX 


ESSED in his suit of heavy, yellowish-white fur, the Polar bear, king of 
the frozen North, travels along over the treeless waste of snow and ice, fol¬ 
lowing the edge of the great ice-pack, where he finds seals, fish, and walrus. 
Sometimes, though seldom, he travels inland, where he finds some vegetable 
matter. He loves the water and is the best swimmer of all the bear people. 

Were he not dressed in white, he would starve to death; as white is the 

prevailing color in this cold country, and he can travel along, hiding behind 
snow-drifts and ice cakes, until he finds a breathing-hole in the ice where the seal comes up 
to get air. Here he watches and waits, as a cat would watch for a mouse. Sometimes he 
steals upon his prey as a hunter would stalk his game. If he cannot reach his prey by 
traveling over the ice, he jumps into the water and swims far out, then approaches it by 
swimming under water. While he swims he catches fish. 

The Polar bear does not depend entirely upon killing his own food: he will eat any¬ 
thing that is thrown upon the shore by the washing of the Arctic waters; it may even be a 
dead whale. 

Usually, the old father bears stay up all winter, hunting food, but when the snowstorms 
begin to be heavy the mother bear digs herself a cave in a snow-drift, or curls up under a 
rocky ledge, where she lets the snow cover her, to keep her and her babies warm during 
the terribly cold part of the winter. In the spring the mother too comes out to hunt for 

food. She usually finds a great many wild birds which come to nest in the great rocky 







POLAR BEAR AND ARCTIC FOX 


cliffs, or on the ice she finds a mother seal with her babies. It is not long before the old 
mother bear begins to get strong after her long winter’s fast, while at the same time she is 
teaching her cubs to hunt. 

The cub is no more afraid than the mother to plunge into the icy Arctic water and swim, 
and he will follow the mother and go wherever she may lead. The baby bear is not used 
to swimming and gets tired if the mother takes too long a water trip; but he knows how to 
rest himself. When he begins to get tired he swims up behind his mother and takes hold 
of her tail with his teeth, and holds on tightly. In this way he can rest and is in no danger 
of being drowned. But the mother drives him off; perhaps she, also, gets tired, for she may 
have two cubs, each taking his turn. 

Were it not for these great bears, many of the explorers—who live in the North two or 
three years at a time, so we can know something of the frozen part of our country—would 
starve to death. 

The Polar bear has a little shadow. It follows wherever he leads, to feed upon whatever 
this great fellow leaves behind. This little shadow is called the Arctic fox. He is a simple- 
minded creature, easily caught in a trap, and willing to accept food left by man. 

’Way up in the far North the Arctic fox is white all the year round; if he were not, he 
could be seen by all the animal people, as he hunts for food over the ice and snow. A 
little farther south, he is snow-white in winter and bluish-brown in summer; while still far¬ 
ther south, this curious chap is dark all the year round, because he hunts in wooded country, 
and if he were white in the woods everything could see him. He must be dark here for the 
same reason that he is white in the North. His color is so different, from the Arctic to the 
south, that you would never believe him to be the same little creature. 


POLAR BEAR AND ARCTIC FOX 


These little people of the wild burrow in the earth for their homes, and they live in 
little fox villages. They dig down to almost freezing point and here they hide many lem¬ 
mings and other small dwellers of the Arctic for their winter supply of meat. They know 
that the long winter will soon be upon them; and though they hunt hard and often to find 
the Arctic hare, this swift runner is not easily caught, as he has longer legs, and there is 
little chance for a fox to creep upon and surprise him, over the great sheet of white snow. 



ARCTIC FOX 



RED FOX AND COTTONTAIL 



ED fox is one of the wisest and most cunning of little creatures, with so little 
fear of man that he prefers to live near settlements, where he can poach 
upon the farmer’s chickens and fowl to help out his menu of mice and rab¬ 
bits, birds and other wood folk. 

The foxes make dens in the midst of bie tree forests, or m crevices amone 
the rocks, where the vixen (mother) hides her four or five cubs while she 
goes out to find food to bring home. She always travels m a roundabout 
way, to and from her den, so that her enemies cannot find the way. She never leaves any 
refuse about her doorway that might attract the attention of man or animal folk who may 
be hunting about her domain. 


On sunny days the vixen takes her fox cubs out into the sunshine to play. They may 
never have seen man, yet they run and hide at his approach; but if caught, they make very 
lovely little pets. 

Some friends, hunting in New Brunswick, caught a little fox cub and put him into a 
box cage. They shot Canadian jays for their little captive, and the cunning little fellow 
carried each one into his box to hide it, until he had his box so full that he could not get 
into it himself. He became very tame and played all day' but at night the hunters would 
awaken to hear his plaintive little bark, then off in the distance would come the answer 
from the poor old vixen, who was mourning the loss of her little one, while the screech-owl 






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RED FOX 













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RED FOX AND COTTONTAIL 


flew from limb to limb, seeming to laugh at the troubles of the poor mother trying to quiet 
her lost one. 

During the nesting season, the red fox destroys quantities of quail and partridge nests. 
H e is hunted with hounds and seems to enjoy the sport as much as his pursuers, leading 
them a merry chase, often running the top rail of a fence or jumping from stone to stone. 
Should he get far ahead, he will stop and wait for the hounds to catch up, then off he runs 
again and often gets away finally, to hide and rest in his den. If he should suddenly come 
upon a hunter, he will show no signs of fear, but just pretend he never saw him, and grad¬ 
ually work away until he is over some small hill, then he will run as fast as he can, to get 
out of the way. 

H e is the handsomest and most valuable fox from the Southern Alleghanies to Point Bar- 
row, wearing many different suits in different parts of the country, from yellow-red to the 
palest of bleached-out colors on the sun-kissed desert, and very bright colors in the forest 
regions of Alaska. 

H e is so cunning and so well able to care for himself that it is not so easy to exterminate 
him as it is other animals less wise. 

The black-cross fox and the silver fox are just two different phases of the same red 
fox. 

The red fox has a very keen sense of hearing. He depends more upon his ears and nose 
than upon his eyes in detecting the approach of danger or in locating his prey. When he 
gets scent of a rabbit, he is happy; for rabbits are his favorite food, and poor little molly- 
cottontail must always be watchful or she will be caught. Should she not see her enemy 
until he is almost upon her, she will lie very close to the ground, behind a bunch of grass 


RED FOX AND COTTONTAIL 


or a bush, and never move. Often the hunter will pass her by j but sometimes she has a 
hard run to save her life, and many times, poor thing, she is caught. 

The cottontail is the smallest of the rabbit family and is found all over the country. She 
burrows in the ground for a home; but, unfortunately, she has not learned to make herself 
a back door, to escape in time of danger, for members of the weasel or marten families follow 
this creature into her home. 

Like all rabbits she has regular runways or trails through the woods; but on moonlight 
nights she will come out into the clearings, with her relatives, and romp, play and frisk about 

in the moonlight, having a lively time. Suddenly 
one of the brothers will stamp his feet, and in a 
second all have disappeared and run for safety. 
Most people might have wondered what the mat¬ 
ter was. Little Brother Rabbit knew, for almost 
instantly, Ko-Ko-Kas, the big brown owl, flew 
over the clearing and each little rabbit was glad 
he had heard and obeyed the warning. Had he 
not he would have suffered more than when 
Chief Rabbit refused to go to a council called by 
Owl. Owl was chief then, and called four times, 
but the Rabbit did not answer. Then he told the 
Rabbit his ears would grow until he came to the 
council. We all know how long his ears grew; and they might have been much longer 
had not the Rabbit answered and run to the council as fast as he could go. 





COTTONTAIL 



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KIT-FOX AND JACK-RABBIT 


HE daintiest and smallest of all the foxes is the pretty little kit-fox. His 
coloring is as dainty as the little fellow himself—a beautiful light silver-gray, 
mixed with long yellow hair. The under part is white; but, unlike his family, 
he has no white tip on the end of his brush, which is ten inches long. Like 
his fox brothers, however, he burrows in the ground for a home and seldom 
dares go very far away from his burrow, as he has so many enemies. Fortu¬ 
nately he need not go far away for food, for he can catch plenty of prairie-dogs 
and ground-mice right at his own door on the prairie. 

In fact, the prairie is the only home of this strange, beautiful little fellow. He is not found 
in the East; but anywhere on the Great Plains, from the Rio Grande to the Saskatchewan, 
the dainty kit-foxes will be seen playing all around, or rolling and tumbling like little pup¬ 
pies. At one time there were many of them, but now they are getting more scarce; being 
less cunning and wise than other foxes, they eat the poisoned meat that trappers have left 
to catch wolves. 

The young kit-fox was a little pet that the Indian children were delighted to have; while 
the Indian mothers and fathers made winter hats from the fur of the kit-fox, and used the 
fur also for decorations on their ceremonial costumes. 

H e is also called the swift-fox, because he can run swiftly enough to catch the jack-rabbit, 
which, during the winter, often furnishes the only food for many of the animals. Like the 





KIT-FOX AND JACK-RABBIT 


kit-fox, the jack-rabbit loves the West, and is not known in the East; though the rabbits in 
the East are cousins. He is also called the jackass-hare, the black-tail and the white-tail 
jack-rabbit. 

Like all other forest people who make their homes in the North, the white-tail jack-rabbit 
changes his gray coat to an almost white one when Winter spreads his blanket of snow over 
Mother Earth. This is Dame Nature’s way of helping her people protect themselves from 
their many enemies. 

Rabbits multiply very rapidly; were it not so we would have few jack-rabbits left, for in 
early days, when food was scarce, the settlers and explorers, as well as the wood folk and 
birds of prey, lived chiefly on the rabbit. Yet, were it not for all his enemies, the jack-rabbit 
would soon become a pest. 

In some places, where the coyotes and birds of prey have become scarce or killed off, the 
rabbits become so numerous and destructive that the Indians plan a rabbit hunt or drive. 
The day set aside for this is a great feast day and the Indians all go to spend the entire 
time at play. Men and boys form a great circle; then, with big clubs, they beat the brush 
in all directions, driving the rabbits toward the center of the ring. There they kill them 
with their throwing sticks, which are curved something like a boomerang. During these 
drives, the Indians kill great numbers of rabbits. After a big drive there is usually a dance 
day at the village and all are invited to dance arid come to the great feast around a big 
campfire. 

The jack-rabbit is known also as the prairie or Texas hare and is distinctly a western 
branch of the family, feeding upon buffalo and bunch grass, weeds, leaves, bark, and low 
bushes. 


KIT-FOX AND JACK-RABBIT 


When a jack-rabbit is being chased, he jumps way up into the air, and then scarcely 
seems to touch the ground before he is up again, looking around to see what is chasing him. 
If it is an ordinary dog or other beast, he will jump up and keep watching his pursuer, but 
if he finds he is being chased by a greyhound, Mr. Rabbit will get right down and run for 
the first place that will afford him a good protection. 

The Indians of the Northwest use the jack-rabbit skin to make robes. They cut the 
skin into narrow strips and twist these so the fur is on both sides; then the strips are 
fastened together. This makes a very light, durable and warm robe for the North country. 



JACK-RABBIT 


MOUNTAIN-SHEEP AND LITTLE CHIEF HARE 


AY out in the Rocky Mountains, bold, strong and active, climbing from 
the snow-covered crown, where snow is everlasting, to the base, where 
spread green pastures, lives the majestic mountain-sheep or bighorn. 
He fears nothing but man with his firearms, and no storm is big 
enough to drive him from his rocky home. 

This splendid creature, with his strong legs, scales the most rugged 
cliffs, and jumps from rock to rock, over deep precipices, with a grace 
and agility that are grand. His favorite feeding-ground is above timber-line, on the treeless 
slopes, where he finds grasses and wild flowers. It is surprising how many different, won¬ 
derful flowers grow about the glaciers. Once, while spending a while on the glaciers in 
Glacier National Park, we picked twenty-four different varieties of flowers in half an hour, 
inside of a few yards; the abundance of vegetation in these ice-bound fields is remarkable. 

The mother sheep stays in the most inaccessible places with her lambs, far up above 
timber-line, so that they can, at the least sign of danger, get out of reach of the foe. The 
worst enemy of these people of the wild is the eagle ; but the mother can guard her babies 
from him. 

In the spring the flocks will venture down to find better feeding-grounds in the valleys; 
but it is not long before they return to the rocky fastness of their mountain home, out of the 
way of the wolves and the mountain-lions, their greatest enemies on the plains below. 














MOUNTAIN-SHEEP 

















MOUNTAIN-SHEEP AND LITTLE CHIEF HARE 


It is good that the mountain-sheep knows the great mountains are his friends and his 
protectors, for, from this fortified home, his keen sense of sight, hearing, and smell helps 
him to detect an enemy at a long distance. 

H is horns, great, massive, wonderful things, are the crowning glory of a hunter; though 
the Indians see in them only a big soup-ladle! Even the females have horns. 

Fortunately, it is unlawful, in many states, to kill this majestic creature, and he will con¬ 
tinue to grace our great western country. His general color is gray, with a large white 
patch on his hind quarters. 

When this wary creature sees a hunter at a great distance, he starts up the well-beaten, 
steep trail. These favorite trails lead up the slopes of high mountains, rugged and jagged, 
to above timber-line, on into the land of perpetual snow. Here the sheep find plenty of 
gray mosses, and, many times, large patches of splendid grass. In winter there is an abun¬ 
dance of gray mosses to eat, and they are glad to find protection in the great pine woods ; but 
they always stay in a forest where the woods fall away into perpendicular, rugged cliffs, 
with acres of slide rock below, to afford a way of escape from the many enemies that trouble 
them, especially from man hunters. 

The old ram keeps his flock of ewes and lambs together, and will not allow young rams 
near his herd. He has many fierce fights to show he is master. Early explorers and hunters 
thought these wild brothers one variety; but since they have been studying this creature 
we know that there are seven varieties, although all have nearly the same habits, and are 
found all the way from the Alaskan mountains clear down into Mexico. 

Little Chief hare, or pika, a queer little fellow, shares this rugged home with the mountain- 
sheep. He is a tiny creature and belongs to no family but his own, though he looks enough 


MOUNTAIN-SHEEP AND LITTLE CHIEF HARE 


like the little gray rabbit to be a cousin. He lives above timber-line, in the land of perpetual 
snow. All summer he carries grasses and many kinds of Alpine plants for his winter sup¬ 
ply of food. With these he builds almost a haystack. 

The pik as also love the rock slides, where they find shelter in the crevices, among the 
boulders. They are always watchful and alert, and when they see any danger they run as 
fast as their short legs can carry them. 

This queer little creature, with little activity, and the great mountain-sheep, who is an 
agile climber, share this rocky home, and neither has any cause to fear the other, though 
both fear many of the wood folk hunters. 



LITTLE CHIEF HARE 



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BISON AND COYOTE 



'HE only buffalo we know is found in Asia and Africa. He is not even a 
distant cousin to the noble animal that was known by the same name 
here. In our stories we will call every animal by its right name and instead 
of speaking of the buffalo we will call it the bison. 

At one time the bison was found nearly all over the United States and 
Canada, especially on the great grazing plains of the West. He furnished 
the Red Men with food, clothes and tepee. 

On the Great Central Plain the herds were so large that the whole 
world (at least so far as you could see) seemed covered with an immense buffalo robe, as 
the bison migrated to the North in summer and to the South in winter. 

These great, lumbering creatures of the prairies traveled in beaten trails and seldom 
turned aside for anything: even the trains had to wait until the big herds should pass. If 
icy waters intersected their trail, no matter how wide, deep or cold the waters might be, 
the bison would plunge right in and swim across. Sometimes they found the river frozen, 
but even that did not stop them. Often the weight of the immense herd would break the 
ice ; then great numbers would drown. Such an accident meant food in great quantity for 
the animals which haunted the shores of rivers and fed upon carrion. In 1798 Alexander 
Henry, a Hudson Bay factor, had his men count the dead bison as they floated down 
the Mouse River. Over seven thousand passed them in one day; these had been 
drowned while trying to cross farther up the stream. Whole herds of bisons some- 





BISON AND COYOTE 


times were burned to death by prairie fires, which had been caused, perhaps, by lightning. 

When flies and insects became troublesome, the old bison would roll and wallow in 
the soft wet clay. These mud-holes were called “wallows” and they are still to be found 
on the praries, even though the old bison has been gone for many years. 

The bison were stupid beasts; and their great curiosity was the cause of their being 
killed in great numbers. Like sheep, they followed their leader, and when frightened the 
whole herd would stampede. The Indians, knowing this failing, would build little piles of 
stone or buffalo chips, behind which they could hide, and when they located a herd of bison, 
a man, wearing a buffalo robe, would imitate the action of a bison, until he attracted the 
attention of the animals nearest him. These would begin to follow him, and gradually 
more and more would follow, until the leaders were enticed into the large opening of the V. 
As soon as the leaders entered the V, an Indian would run from behind a pile of stones, 
waving a buffalo robe, and soon the whole herd would be rushing toward the small end of 
the V, and over the cliff to death. Those coming behind pushed the leaders in; and soon 
most of the herd was being dressed for food, clothing and tepee for the Red Man. This 
was called a “ piskin ” among the Blackfeet Indians. 

The bison is a wonderful beast, with his great head, neck, rump, shoulders and fore legs 
covered with a heavy mass of shaggy hair, dark brown above and black lower down; the 
hind quarters are of a light brown color. The horns curve upward ; and at the end of his 
tail there is a great brown tassel. He carries his head well down below his shoulders. 

This beast was so important to the life of the Red people, that it does not seem strange 
to think that the old time Indian is passing away with his friend the bison, who has played 
such an important part in his life, and in his folk tales, which have been brought down 


BISON AND COYOTE 


from one generation to another, until now, at this late day, we are doing our best to preserve 
the wonderful stories of the old time, and to make a home for what is left of the bison, 
where he will be safe from harm. 

This great fellow shared his prairie home with the slinking little coyote, who lives in 
burrows. But he did not have to share his food; for this sly, cunning, greedy little fellow 
feeds upon rabbits, mice, ground-squirrels and birds, although he sometimes eats the fruit 
of the prickly pear and in winter he is glad to get the juniper berries or rose hips. 

This cowardly little creature has many enemies. The Indians say that is because he fell 
asleep when man awarded bows to the animal people and told them which was to be king. 
Had he not been such a swift runner, he would never have been able to catch man, when 
he awakened. Man had but one bow left, and that was the power of cunning. Now, though 
Coyote is a coward and afraid, he is so cunning that he knows just how to overcome all 
troubles, and be master of any situation. 



COYOTE 



PRONGHORN AND PRAIRIE-DOG 


E beautiful little antelope, or pronghorn as he should rightfully be called, 
is one of our wild creatures of the West that, like the bison, is rapidly disap¬ 
pearing. Ele is one of the swiftest runners of all our animal people; and it 
is a good thing that he is, or we might have no pronghorn at all to-day. 

He belongs to a family all by himself in America, even though he sheds 
his horns and has to grow a new pair every year just as the other animal 
people of our hoofed family do. Still, his horns are different, for he has one 
prong over each eye. 

The Red people tell why this little fellow is different, in one way at least, and they know 
it is his own fault. When on the prairies, where the country is very flat, this little animal 
friend is very fleet of foot; and the Red people tell of the time, many years ago, when the 
animal people and man people were friends. The antelope was visiting the deer in his 
rocky home, and some of the little Red people came to play in the forest with the forest 
people. Antelope thought he would like to show these little playmates how easily he could 
beat his deer friend at running a race. I think he was a little too proud of himself, don’t 
you ? 

“Friend deer,” the antelope said, “I will bet my dew-claws that I can beat you at racing.” 

The deer said he was willing to try; and off they started. 

Poor little antelope! He was not used to the thick timber, and the deer was, for he had 










PRONGHORN 








PRONGHORN AND PRAIRIE-DOG 


been running in the forest all his life. Of course, the little antelope lost! And of course 
he had to lose his dew-claws; and he has none to this day. 

When early Spanish explorers saw these little fellows, they spoke of them as “the stags 
with white patches.” Their hair is so harsh and brittle that it cannot be used for anything; 
but the summer hide makes a very soft leather and the Indians used it for making fine 
shirts. 

When the pronghorn is alarmed, he stamps his front feet and throws up the hair on his 
rump—perhaps he is telegraphing the sign of danger to his Iriends. 

A hunter who kills this beautiful creature should surely be ashamed; for, unless allowed 
to live and grow in his wild state, the pronghorn will soon be only a memory. 

H is great curiosity often leads him to his death. Hunters take advantage of this strange 
trait and tie a rag to the end of a gun. This they wave back and forth for the pronghorn 
to see. The poor little fellow is afraid at first, and runs; but he turns to look again, stops, 
and comes closer; then runs again. Soon the curiosity gets the better of this creature’s 
good judgment and he comes closer and closer until the poor beast is within range of his 
deceiver’s gun. 

These animals travel in herds, like sheep, and they have a wonderfully keen sense of 
sight. They have to keep a sharp lookout for wolves, and on the broad plains where they 
make their homes they can see great distances. On account of this sly enemy, the prong¬ 
horn eats a moment and then raises his head to look around. 

But this little brother of the plains is not afraid of his small neighbors, the prairie-dogs, 
who build their homes in colonies or little dog-towns, sometimes many miles in extent. 

These dogs would be very happy in their prairie home—for they never wander far from 


PRONGHORN AND PRAIRIE-DOG 


a hole to dive into at the approach of danger—were it not for the rattlesnake. That wicked 
fellow just takes any home he likes. He never knocks, but just crawls into the home of any 
little dog; and the poor fellow cannot drive him out. As soon as a prairie-dog finds that 
a snake has taken his home, he and his neighbors plaster the opening of that home shut; 
so the intruder has to find a way to escape or else dies. 

The little prairie-dog wants to stay; for he and his pronghorn friends love the same great 
open plains, they eat the same food, and they fear the same enemy—the coyote. 



PRAIRIE DOG 








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DEER PEOPLE 


HE graceful ancl beautiful mule deer roams from the valley, where the south 
wind breathes life into everything, to the mountain tops, where snow and ice 
are always found. 

The buck, or male deer, carries a pair of solid horns, which proclaim him 
head of his family, and he leads his small band, stopping to eat the fresh 
grass in the coolees and on banks of the streams or brooklets that wend 
their way down the mountain-side. 

During the summer the deer obtains food easily, as he feasts upon grasses, mosses, lichens, 
and berries; but when winter comes he has to dig through the snow and ice with his sharp 
hoofs, or browse upon the buds of trees. 

With the approach of February and March, the bucks leave their open and happy play¬ 
ground for the denser and overgrown woodlands. At that time of every year they lose their 
horns and hide from the female deer and from their greatest enemy, the wolf. They are 
too vain to let the doe see them without their crown. During this retreat the bucks become 
very docile and live at peace with their fellow deer while awaiting Dame Nature’s pleasure 
to produce a new pair of horns with which to protect themselves. 

When the horns first appear they are covered with a very fine, velvety skin, which, after 
they are full grown, is rubbed off on saplings; but an extra prong has been added to the 
crown, which tells of an additional year for the wearer. 






DEER PEOPLE 


With his new set of horns, the buck resumes his warlike nature. He leaves his hiding- 
place and many and fierce are the battles he fights with his brother deer. He also resumes 
his leadership and is ever on the alert, listening and watching for approaching danger. He 
hears the slightest noise. Raising his head, he makes good use of his acute sense of hearing 
and smelling. If the noise be repeated, he snorts, stamps his cloven hoofs, and calls his 
family of does and fawns to retreat. A hunter will often shoot a fawn, then await the 
mother’s return ; for the mother-love in the deer family is so great that she will come back 
to find her lost baby—and so lose her life. 

The wind is the trusted friend of the animal people, and will always warn them, if it be 
possible, of the enemy’s approach. The wind carries the scent of the hunter to the delicate 
nostrils of the deer; and if, by chance, the hunter makes even the slightest noise, the wind 
carries the sound to their sensitive ears. On account of this knowledge gained by his 
enemy, man and animal, the deer is often surprised, as the hunter tries to approach his 
game against the wind. 

Among the Cherokee Indians the deer was never killed except when the Red people 
were in need of food. These Indians tell of the long ago, of the time when the Red peo¬ 
ple and the animal people lived and talked together. Little Deer was chief of the deer 
people at that time; and when the Red people began to kill deer and other animals with the 
bow and arrow, for food and clothing, the animal people declared war against the Red people 
and went into the forest to live, away from the haunts of man. The deer people called a 
council, and it was decided that if man killed deer for food, he would be forgiven, provided 
he apologized and begged pardon of the drops of blood ; but if he should forget to ask 
pardon, Little Deer would follow the hunter into the settlement and make him a helpless 


DEER PEOPLE 



cripple with rheumatism. When the Red hunter forgets to ask pardon for an offense 
against the deer people, he builds a fire on his home trail; for that alone will make the Spirit 
of Little Deer turn back. 

The Red people used the deer for food and dress. They have been known, with the aid 
of a few inches of snow, to run down a deer within 
twenty-four hours. 

In America we have three kinds of deer: the 
black-tail, the white-tail, and the mule deer; but 
each has chosen a home for himself, and did we 
not know they were cousins we would wonder if 
they were related at all, they have chosen homes 
so far apart. The black-tail deer has selected the 
land of big trees and rain for his home ; the white- 
tail lives in the timber and brush, where he can 
hide easily from his enemies; while the mule deer 
lives in the foot-hills and open country, where he 
can see for a great distance. I-I e is the largest of 
these three members of the deer family. 


DEER 


MOOSE AND BEAVER 


e evergreen forests of Canada, northern United States, and Alaska, lives the 
largest member of the deer family. He is so big, so homely, and so differ¬ 
ent from any wild beast of to-day, that one wonders if he is not of the pre¬ 
historic times. His ears are long, his tail is short, and his great upper lip 
protrudes well over the lower. Poor beast, his legs are so long that if he 
wants to feed upon grass or herbs growing on level ground, his short neck 
won’t reach down, and he has to kneel or find a more hilly feeding-ground; 
but, then, he is not a grazing animal, like his deer cousins, but browses upon leaves, bark, 
or twigs of trees, and also eats the lichens and mosses that hang from the trees. Strange 
to say, this great, almost prehistoric, creature loves the water, and his choicest dainty is 
said to be the roots of the yellow spatter-docks. Surely, he must love the busy little beaver, 
which lives in all the streams, for it builds dams and makes lakes where the lily pads will 
grow. 

Have you ever seen the little beaver? He loves the water as well as the land, and his 
hind feet are completely webbed. He is not very large, though he is one of the largest 
rodents. He can, with his big teeth, cut down a tree for building a dam. He has a broad, 
flat tail, but he uses it only to help him swim, or sometimes when danger is approaching he 
slaps the water with it, and instantly all his brothers disappear. 

Wherever the beaver builds his dam, the water is less swift, and the lily pads grow more 









MOOSE 



























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MOOSE AND BEAVER 


thickly. The moose loves to wander through the dense thickets that grow around the 
lakes, bogs, and streams of the forest; but when he hears a sound he holds his great muz¬ 
zle up, lays his massive crown of palmated horns back on his shoulders—to avoid the 
branches—and then runs, with a clumsy, shuffling gait. To increase his speed he simply 
lengthens his stride; and his hoofs make a queer, clanking noise as he trots along. When 
he finds a log in his way, no matter how high it may be, he does not stop to jump over; 
he never changes his gait, but steps a little higher. These same long legs help him when 
he reaches up to peel the bark from young trees, or to bite off the tender shoots. 

In winter the moose live in the pine woods in the hilly country, where they can browse 
upon the bark and the juicy evergreens. Several families live together; and when the snow 
begins to get very deep they break trails over several acres, where they can travel to find 
food. These places are called “moose yards”; and here they pass the hardest part of the 
winter, sometimes enlarging their yards as food becomes scarce. With the coming of spring, 
they start for the lakes and streams again. 

In the fall, when the bull moose bugles for a mate, the cow moose answers with a low 
call. Her call is imitated by hunters, who use a birch-bark trumpet, and the poor bull 
moose comes on, to answer the call. Many times the moose, called in this way, rushes 
through the woods and is almost upon the hunter before he is ready. Then the hunter 
becomes the hunted and flees for safety. 

The moose is the main support of the Indians in the Northeast; and they waste no part 
of him. His own shin bone supplies the scraper with which to scrape his own hide. 

From the neck of this strange beast hangs a pendent mass of hair, called a bell. The 
Indians tell how the Evil Spirit, trying to convince the Indians that he was stronger than 


MOOSE AND BEAVER 


the Great Spirit, struck a moose which had rushed into the circle, and pulled a piece of 
skin from the poor fellow’s chin. “You will always carry that mark,” he said, “so these 
people cannot forget how strong I am!” And the moose always carries his bell. Then the 
Evil Spirit put his hand against the poor animal’s face and pushed him out of the ring. 
The push he gave the beast was so awful that he flattened the face; and that is why the 
moose is so ugly. Just then the Good Spirit heard. He sent a tremendous flash of light- 
ning and a great peal ot thunder. When the Indians could see again, they looked for the 
Evil Spirit; and all they saw was a small pile of ashes. But they could never forget him 
nor his strength, for when they hunt the moose they always see his homely face and the bell 
which hangs from his chin to this very day. 



BEAVER 



PUMA AND PECCARY 















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PUMA AND PECCARY 


HE puma belongs to the cat family and is found all through the W estern 
States. He measures six or eight feet, a third of which is tail. He 
has such a small head that hunters are often deceived as to his size and 
strength and get into a great deal of trouble. 

This is one of the most bloodthirsty of animals, traveling only at night, 
and very cautiously. He selects ledges of rock near a stream, where ani¬ 
mals stop to drink, and watches for his prey. He will wait patiently, leav¬ 
ing no signs of his presence, until some unfortunate animal is directly under him, and then 
he springs upon his prey. He digs his cruel, sharp, hooked claws deeply into the neck of 
his victim, and drinks its blood, even though the creature may plunge about and brush 
through bushes in its endeavor to escape this terrible persecutor. At last, exhausted from 
the loss of blood, the poor victim falls, discouraged, only to be left; for the puma has satis¬ 
fied his hunger, and is ready to wait for new prey. He seems to have an inborn desire to 



kill. 

H e is feared by the human race in thinly settled parts of the country; and when people 
hear the weird cry of “E — Emew ” they keep close watch, for they know that, under cover 
of night, this tawny enemy will attack calves, sheep, colts, and small quadrupeds generally. 
Herders often have found more than fifty of their herd killed in a single night. Still, the 
savage creature is a coward and has rarely been known to attack a man. 






PUMA AND PECCARY 


Fortunately, this destructive beast has a very poor sense of smell, or the herders would 
have little chance to overcome him. He cannot smell poison hidden in tempting pieces of 
meat left for this gluttonous beast to devour. 

The puma, known also as cougar, painter, panther, mountain-lion, and, as the Sioux 
Indians say, E-mew, from his cry, travels through the wooded and rocky country, slinking, 
creeping along, sometimes surprising the fighting little peccaries. This bloodthirsty, savage 
little beast is armed with tusks, sharp enough to make terrible wounds, and the cowardly 
puma dare not accept the challenge from this creature of dauntless courage and sharp tusks. 

The puma kittens, in their baby-clothes of stripes along their sides and big spots all over, 
making of them miniature leopards, frisk about and play in the open, while the mother 
watches from a nearby rock. Sometimes the kittens, careless of danger, wander too far off; 
and then, being very easily tamed, they are lassoed and dragged home by Indian hunters, 
to afford the little Red people play-fellows. The kittens soon learn to forget their forest 
homes and become very happy and contented in the adopted ones with their new friends. 

The puma is hunted with dogs. These he would willingly attack, did he not know they 
were followed by the hunter with his firearms. When the dogs have cornered him, he will 
climb a tree with the agility of a cat, not hugging the tree as a man does, but digging his 
claws into the trunk and running up. Then he crouches on a limb and defies his pur¬ 
suers; but his threats are soon ended by the approach of the hunter, who shoots to kill; for, 
if only wounded, this bloodthirsty, gluttonous creature will make a savage and desperate 
fight for life. 

The California Indians explain this savage nature in their folk lore. There was a time, 
they say, when no animal knew which should be food for the other, and they begged the 


PUMA AND PECCARY 


Great Spirit to tell them. The Great Spirit called an Indian to him and said, “ Make many 
bows and arrows, from a very large to a tiny one, and distribute them among the animal 
people. The one receiving the largest bow will have the greatest strength and will eat all 
animals for meat.” The Indian did as he was bidden, and at the appointed time all the 
animals came forward to meet him. He distributed the bows and gave the biggest one 
to the Puma. Ever since then the Puma has had great strength, and all animals have been 
his prey. 



PUMA 


OCELOT AND MUSKRAT 



‘HE small, catlike animal, with spots on its side and irregular stripes of black 
and white running lengthwise along its back, is the little ocelot. He reminds 
you of the leopard at first sight, but he is much smaller and no two of them are 
marked exactly alike. 

His whole length, including fifteen inches of tail, is forty-five inches, and his 
height will average thirteen inches. Very little is known of this member of the 
cat family. Like the jaguar, whose hunting grounds are also his, he climbs trees, hunting 
for birds, or hides in the branches, watching for small quadrupeds, upon which he preys. 

He is a treacherous, ill-tempered, and bad fellow; yet in the time of the Aztecs, he was 
used by those Indians to hunt birds. He was, and is, killed a great deal by the Indians, 
who, on account of its decorative qualities, use his skin for clothing. No doubt, when the 
ocelot is better known, we will find some very interesting facts to tell about this beast. 

Muskrat, or Musquash, as the Algonquin Indians called him, is a heavily-built, broad¬ 
headed and short-necked fellow, with short limbs and small but sharp eyes. His beaver¬ 
like, dark brown fur is much used, as it is cheaper and more plentiful than that of other 
small fur-bearing animals. 

Both sexes have glands for secreting the musky substance from which they take their 


The muskrat looks enough like the beaver to be his cousin ; yet, while the beaver refuses 





OCELOT 




OCELOT AND MUSKRAT 


to stay in any woods where man has found his way, the muskrat has quickly learned that, 
though man is an enemy and traps him several months of the year, his natural wood-folk 
enemies disappear with the advance of civilization. 

The muskrats have never learned to build dams like the beaver, so they build their 
houses in still waters and swamps. These-houses are made of mud and sod, or of the cut- 
down rushes that grow in the swamps. They usually build them two stories high; the 
upper story being ventilated by a short passage, leading down below. They always have 
several runways from the houses, leading to other rush houses and also to underground 
houses. The upper room is lined with soft grass and moss and is above the water-line. 
Inside of this soft-lined room, southeast of the center, the muskrat builds his nest and 
spends the greater part of the winter, hardly knowing how stormy the weather may be out¬ 
side. Here, also, the young are born. 

The muskrats always leave air-holes; but if there should be too little air under the ice, 
they need only expel the air from their lungs against the under surface of the ice and it will 
be purified very quickly by its contact with the freezing water. 

The only enemies they have to fear, in the winter, are the otter and the mink, who come 
to the water to fish, for neither objects to a good dinner of muskrat, if he can catch one. 
The hungry old lynx also prowls about, in his almost vain search for food; but the musk¬ 
rat does not fear him, because the muskrat’s house is so solidly frozen that the lynx cannot 
scratch nor dig it open. These rodents, when they inhabit streams with high banks, do 
not trouble to build houses, but burrow under the banks to make a home. 

During the summer months, the muskrat must look out for many enemies. The great 
owl goes hooting through the forest and, with his eagle eyes, keeps watch for any muskrat 


OCELOT AND MUSKRAT 




unfortunate enough to be caught dozing. The owl counts the muskrat a great delicacy and 
he will watch for hours to catch one. 

When the muskrat catches sight of this enemy, he gives the water a number of good 
whacks with his tail, warning the whole colony of danger, and it is not long before every 
muskrat has jumped into the water and is safely hidden in his underground home. Here 
Mr. Muskrat and his family feast upon great quantities of clams and such vegetable matter 
as they feel like eating, enjoying their dinner all the more because they have just escaped 
furnishing a dinner for some other wild creature. 



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